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The Secret With Mental Illness!
Submitted by: Susan Herder
Jackson, Michigan 49203I'm a deeply devoted Christian who enjoys helping others, especially the mentally ill. I also live with a mental illness called "Borderline Personality Disorder". I want to become a peer advocate, which is someone who is far enough along with their own recovery that they can now start advocating for their peers who also have a mental illness.
Due to some tragic events that occurred earlier in my life, I’m now diagnosed with having Borderline Personality Disorder, which is a mental illness brought about by traumatic childhood experiences. Because of those tragic events, I’ve had a really negative view on life, and the role I play in it. More than once I’ve tried suicide, because I just didn’t feel that I fit in, and all life was doing was hurting me more and more every day! I felt like some fish that was just floundering around out of water!
According to the world renown specialists from Mayo Clinic, Borderline personality disorder is often a devastating mental condition, both for the people who have it and for those around them. Perhaps shaped by harmful childhood experiences or brain dysfunctions, people diagnosed with borderline personality disorder live in a world of inner and outer turmoil. They have difficulty regulating their emotions and are often in a state of upheaval. They have distorted images of themselves, often feeling worthless and fundamentally bad or damaged. And while they yearn for loving relationships, people with borderline personality disorder typically find that their anger, impulsiveness, stormy attachments, and frequent mood swings push others away.
Possible causes include:
Genetics. Some studies of twins and families suggest that personality disorders may be inherited.
Environmental factors. Many people with borderline personality disorder have a history of childhood abuse, neglect and separation from caregivers or loved ones.
Brain abnormalities. Some research shows changes in certain areas of the brain involved in emotion regulation, impulsiveness and aggression. In addition, certain brain chemicals that help regulate mood, such as seretonin, may not function properly.
I first learned about The Secret through the agency that treats my mental illness. The founder/CEO for this agency first held a party at his church for all of his staff to see “The Secret”. After staff saw the movie, they started using The Secret as part of our therapy.
Things in my life have changed 100% now that I’ve watched The Secret! No longer do I have such a negative look on my life. Now that I’ve started thinking more positively, many great and wonderful things have started happing in my life. No longer do I feel like I’m just floundering around and just existing in life, I now feel like my life finally has a purpose and I have a desire to live.
I’ve always just wanted to make a difference in the mentally ill consumers that surround me. I’m now on the Recipient’s Right’s Advsiory Council which makes recommendations to our board of directors, and by being on this council automatically makes me a member of the Appeals Committee, where the findings of a rights case are either up held or sent back to the Right’s office to be re-opened. I’ve recently helped to change the life of one of my friends, by filing a Recipient’s Right’s case against her treating agency, for this provider’s lack of concern for my friend.
Things have gotten better for my friend, and the therapist that was giving her all that grief and total disrespect is now gone from this agency and will never be able to traumatize anymore consumers in our care network again!
I’m also a member of our local CMH called -LifeWays, and a member of a group at LifeWays approiately named -MindChangers. I’m extremely proud of the work that MindChangers and myself are doing in fighting the stigma that’s associated with having a mental illness.
This year finally it’s a part of my treatment plan which has to be created once a year, to finally start working towards being a peer support advocate.
Since The Secret my life has become more meaningful, and I now have a purpose and a direction in my life, and I am MAKING A DIFFERENCE! Thank you!